Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who died at the age of 70 on Wednesday, "changed the whole game" and embraced former President Donald Trump's "America first" policy, ex-White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on the icon's passing.
"Rush Limbaugh loved America [and] President [Donald] Trump embodied his 'America first' policy," Kudlow, now a Fox Business host, said on Fox News. "Not everybody liked it. He loved America, traditional values, tax cuts, and so forth."
Kudlow added that he knew Limbaugh "pretty well" and they used to talk about policy often.
"He was always absorbing economy, financial stuff," said Kudlow. "I think that he had this great knack of plain speaking, as you've noticed. Rush was a persuader. That is an old-time term, a persuader."
Limbaugh was self-taught, added Kudlow, and "absorbed a lot of things from many fellow conservatives like myself. He could persuade people on that radio show, speaking to 40 million people, however many, which is remarkable. I think that changed the course of a lot of things."
Kudlow said there is no question that without Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich would not have become speaker of the House, and Republicans would not have regained power in 1994.
"He was crucial to that," Kudlow said.
He also said Limbaugh showed, during his last radio show in December, that he was a "guy who was grateful" and had "enormous gratitude and humility."
"To all his bravado, and he could be a great showman, deep down inside, he had great humility," said Kudlow. "He would say, 'Thank you for coming on my show.' I'd say, 'You don't have to thank me,' he just put me in front of 40 million people. He didn't see it that way."